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Guddu Rangeela
...starts off on a wholly different note from the one on which it ends.
Jul 2015
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NH10
NH10 never glorifies its ample violence, and its moral compass is unerringly fixed.
Mar 2015
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Raees
...is overstretched and too much in thrall to the Indian gangster movie formula, but Dholakia does try to use the past to comment on the present.
Jan 2017
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Jun 2018
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Kalank
The movie retains its hauteur and attention to period haute couture even as it goes off the rails, finally chugging into its destination after leaving broken hearts and unmet ambitions in its wake.
Apr 2019
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Laal Kaptaan
Threats are delivered but never carried out, and ambition is spelt out but not realised. Yet, Laal Kaptaan scores on other fronts. The lack of sentimentality suits the material, and Navdeep Singh effectively conveys the sense of a battle without honour or humanity.
Oct 2019
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Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande
...patchily written and too long for its own good. But it is also attempts to tackle the issue of the acquisition of farm land with some degree of seriousness.
Aug 2011
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Bareilly Ki Barfi
...suffers tremendously from tonal inconsistency. It promises a relentlessly eccentric and zany experience, but doesn’t follow its screwball premise all the way through.
Aug 2017
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Pagglait
...tries to muster up feelings of remorse and loss, but is more comfortable sliding into humour or ladling out the snark.
Mar 2021
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Dabangg
...has some smart writing, many riveting action sequences and quite a few yawn-inducing moments.
Sep 2010
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Airlift
This amazing story needs a second movie, perhaps titled The Real Airlift, which is not in thrall to a single and singular man but acknowledges the hundreds who enabled lakhs of Indians to return home safe. Airlift soars on its own merits, but it is ultimately a flight of fantasy.
Jan 2016
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Raman Raghav 2.0
...might lack the layers needed to be a contemporary update of the serial killer movie, but it has plenty of surface pleasures.
Jun 2016
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Manto
Despite the best efforts of Nawazuddin Siddiqui to humanise his character, Manto’s inner workings remain elusive, emerging only in bits and pieces.
Sep 2018
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Hunterrr
...is a comedy about sex rather than a sex comedy, presented with plenty of verve and wit, but also the indulgence of a first-time director.
Mar 2015
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Aurangzeb
This is a movie that aspires to be about the mini-empires that exist within-and often work against-the Indian republic, but it scuttles its own ambitions midway through.
May 2013
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Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi
...has many rough edges, patches of amateurish staging and acting, misguided attempts at humour, and an ear-splitting and disposable Amar Mohile background score, but it is also good-natured, warm-hearted, and finely observed.
May 2014
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Bombay Velvet
The plot is needlessly complicated at the expense of emotion, and assembles a set of well-dressed people who seem to want to go someplace but are not quite sure where.
May 2015
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Prem Ratan Dhan Payo
...neither hitting the highs expected from such an expensive and high-profile project nor the lows that plague mid-career filmmakers. Like its intended audience, the movie sticks firmly in the middle.
Nov 2015
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Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz
There isn’t much of a plot to stretch over 116 minutes, but there are enough cute moments of youthful angst and Kolkata chic to prevent a total washout.
Feb 2018
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Phata Poster Nikhla Hero
...makes the strongest possible case yet to the movie trade and viewers that Kapoor cannot be written off easily.
Sep 2013
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Shamitabh
Here are the offbeat story, the easily flowing and witty banter, the quirky and urbane characters, and the light-hearted touch. But here are also the unwieldy and stretched narrative (153 minutes), the unresolved climax, the gimmicky nature of the material and the inability to expand on the movie’s premise.
Feb 2015
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Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Salman Khan will regard Bajrangi Bhaijaan as a career redefining moment, but his limited acting skills show up in every scene.
Jul 2015
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Force 2
It’s not quite India’s answer to the Mission: Impossible films, but at least on the thrills front, it’s halfway there.
Nov 2016
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Hindi Medium
It’s well-intentioned, often very funny and superbly performed, but ultimately a lesson in overreach.
May 2017
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Mar 2019
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Global Baba
The clarity with which director Manoj Tiwari approaches his subject isn’t always reflected in the overly busy plotting and the choppy narrative. Yet, the filmmaker makes his points adequately.
Mar 2016
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Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Rai, who also made Raanjhanaa in 2013, confirms his ability to conjure up a convincing small-town milieu characterised by clamour and kitsch, but his tendency to cram his frames with lots of people crisscrossing the screen, overlapping dialogue and insistent background music results in a sensory overdose.
May 2015
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M.S. Dhoni
There is a test-match quality to the efforts taken to highlight every bump and curve on the way of the journey of a quick scorer. Yet, Dhoni remains an enigma.
Sep 2016
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Aug 2017